Strain-insulator.



A. 0. AUSTIN. Smm msuL'Ana. APPLICATIN FILED MAY 24. BlE.

1 ,284,974. Patented Nov. 19, 191s'.

4 SHETS-SHEET I.

A. 0. AUSTEN.

STRAIN msuLAma.

APPLICATION FILiD IIAY 24| 1916.

Patented Nuv. 19, 12H8.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. 0. AUSUN.

'STHMN INSULMOR.

APiLzcATlon m50 10m24.191s.

1,284,974. Patented Nov. 19, 1918,

4 SH BITS-SHEET 3.

A. U. AUSTIN.

STRAIN INSULATOR.

APPLICATION meu Mmm. ma.

Patented Nov. 19, 19H5.

' insulator unit and a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR O. AUSTIN, 0F BARBERTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR T0 THE OHIO BRASSCOMPANY,

er im wsFIELn, omo', A coRPonaTIoN or NEW JERSEY.

STRA IN-INSULATOR.

ipcioation of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 1e, i918.

Application led May 24, 1916. Serial No. 99,522.

To all whom it may concern.'

e it known that I, ARTHUR O. AUSTIN, a citizen of the United St es, iF-'i ding at Barberton, in the county o;- of Ohio, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Strain-Insulators, of which the followingis a specification'.

his invention relates to insulators, and more particularly to the meansfor connecting insulating members together or to strain wires. Theprincipal object of the invention is to provide a construction,combination and arrangement of parts by means of which insulatingmembers can be quickly, easily and efliciently connected.

In the. accompanying drawings-*Figure 1 is a side elevation'o a straininsulator constructed in accordance with the principle of thisinvention; Fig. Q is a sectional view. taken on line 2-L2 of Fig. 1;Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 3*--3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4is another view of the insulator shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is alongitudinal section takeny on line 5-5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a sectiontaken on line 6-6 of Fig. 4; Fig. is a view partly in. section of anside opening strap supporting member; Fig. 8 is a sectional view takenon the line 8-8` of Fig. 7 Fig. 9 is a view taken on the line9-9 of Fig.7; Fig. l0 is a perspective showing the means for fastening the latch;Fig. ing a holder with one side opening* socket and one radially openingsocket;. Fig. l2 shows an insulator ofthree connected units and the endconnections; Fig. 13 is a view partly in section showing one means forholding the headed extremities of the con'- necting links in position intheir sockets;v 8nd Fig. 14 shows' a double ended Vsocket member withmeans forholding the headed extremities in place.

e present invention is designed and intended to provide a simple andefficient means for connecting a certain type of insulating unitstogether and to strain wires or SUPPOS- Among the advantages gained bythls construction are-that the insulatin units can be connected moreclosely toget er; a uuiformly good connection can be made between eachpair of units or between any end unit and the member to which it isattached; -by making a uni'onnly good joint, the per Summit and Statell'is a view show-v sonal element in tightening or connecting theseveral parts, is entirely eliminated; the construction is thereforefool proof and of high mechanical Strength, upon the strength of thematerials used.

his invention .is particularly designed and intended for use inconnection with in` sulators constructed with a plurality of radiallyextendin ribs. In the drawings, an insulator of t is type, having fourribs is shown, although it is obvious that the insulators may have moreribs, thus increasing the leakage surface, and depending upon the sizeof the insulating units. This type of insulator, having longitudinallyextendin ribs, may be formed by shooting or extru ing the material fromor through a die, thus making the insulators of uniform cross sectionand in lon strips from ma be eutto t e desired length.

Iii Fig. l of the drawings, two similar insulating members 8 of the typewhich is described, provided with apertures 9 at right angles to eachother, are linked together and provided with end attaching means. Asshown in elevation i'n Fig. 3, each insulating member is formed withlongitudinally extending ribs 10 which separate thc `openings 9 at rightangles to each other. These insulating members or units 8 are of theinterlinking type in which the opening 9 having a link connectedtherethrough, is inside of another link extending from the otheropeningr 9 and rfrom the other end of the insulating member. The objectof this construen tion is to prevent the actual separation of theinter-linked connecting member, even if obvious that if lating membersin may not actually there are a plurality of insuseries, the breaking ofone cause an electrical breakdown, whereas, if the connecting parts werenot interlinked, a mechanical break would also cause an electricalbreakdown.` The edges 11 of the o enings 9 are rounded awa to form abetter aring surface for the connecting links.

In order to connect two insulating members 8, a link 12 is providedwhich has a central -portion 13 substantially round in cross section,with headed extremities 14. Intermediate the center and eachl extremity,is a flattened or partially flattened portion 1.5 which is rounded onitsr inner facgigto subdepending only which the units i stantiallycorrespond with the curved surface 11. Secured to the llattened orrounded portion on the inside thereof, is a sheet or ribbon lli ofyieldiiner nmtelial such as lead or the like, which :reis as a cushionbetween the hard material ol which the, link is constructed and thebrittle surface of the insulating member. and conforming to the surface,of the insulating member, equalizes the pressure due to the strainplaced upon the insulating parts. The bent portions` of cach link arepreferably rounded on one side and flattened on the other, as clearlyshown in the section views, Figs. 3, 5 and 7. rl`hese p0rtionsl areformed so that they may be bent and inserted more readily through theopenings 9 of the insulating members S, and also to offer a greatercontact surface for engage? ment with the insulating member than theywould if the connecting link were round in cross section :it-theseplaces.

The headed extremities. 14 of each of the links 12, are held together bymeans of a connecting hook 17 formed with opposite socketslS forengaging each of the heads and With an extending latch .19 which may bepressed oyer the middle portion 13 of the connecting' link 12 and heldin engagement therewith. provided at one side of the latch 19 to providemeans for engagement with a pair of pliers, as shown in Fig. 10, forengaging or disengaging the latch with the link l2.

Connected to and extending from the end of each insulating member 8l, isa strap 20 Substantially U-shaped, having headed extremities 21 and anintermediate flattened portion 22, the inside of which is covered withyielding material 23. In order to en age the headed extremities 2l, aneye mem er 24 is provided with sockets 25 which open in* wardly so thatthe headed extremities must be sprung into position where they will beheld by the sockets, the straps being of resilient material, so thatthey will be held firmly in the sockets and must be sprung in order todisengage them.

Instead of thel eye Vmember 24, an end member 26 may 'be provided havina pivot pin 27 and engaging sockets 28 similar to the sockets 25 alreadydescribed.

Instead of providing the connecting and members with ysockets .whichopen from the inside, an end member 29 may be formed with side openingsockets 30 in which the headed extremities of the straps 20 may be`esci-ted without springing them, and the heads may then be held inplace by means of a ootter pin or Wire 31 inserted through openings 32.This construction is shown in section b Figs, 8 and and in Fig. 8 itwill be seen t at the rear ,portion 33 of the socket is inclinedoutwardly therefrom, so that the end member 29 must be inclined ortipped at an angle in applying it to the headed A projection 19 iscommonlyY member. lVith this construction, it is apparent also thatsinceit is not necessary to spring the extremities of the strap 20 in orderto engage and disengage them, the parallel sides of the member 20 maylie against or substantial] y against the. section of the insulator asshown more clearly in Fig. 7. In the construction as shown in Figs. 2and 5, it is usually necessary to allow a little space between theinsulating member and the sides oi the strap member, so that theextremities can be sprung.

Another way of making the sockets, is to place them on opposite sides ofthe socket member to which they are connected. Or

ing socket, as indicated by the reference numeral 34 in Fig. 11, whilethe other socket l5 is a side opening socket, so that the end member 36may be rotated into engagement with the headed extremities. Thesemethods are best where the connecting straps are heavy and cannot besprung into radial Slots.

Another means for locking the headed extremities in their sockets isshown in Fig. 13, in which an end member 37 is provided with a.perforation 38 through which the headed end of an eye bolt 39 extends.'A nut 4.-() threaded on the 'end oi the eye bolt after the headedextremities 21 are in their sockets 23 and they Vcannot be disengageduntil the nut 4() is removed.

It' desired, a double ended socket member 41 may be substituted for theconnector 17 which would do away with the connecting latch 19. With thisconstruction, a cotter 42 would be inserted through the sides of themember holding the headed extremities in position. The objection to thisconstruction is that it is not as rgidas the connecting link 12 and doesnot hold the insulating members in proper position.

lt is understood, of course, that instead of connecting a completeinsulator, consist-ing oi a plurality of members linked together bymeans df the socketed end connectors, the end insulating members may beconnected to wire cables 4:3, as shown in Fig. 12. These cables may beattached in any suitable ma?)` ner, as, for, example, by the nutcla-mpidg member 44 sho'wn at one end or by simply making a Wrappedjoint 45, as shown at the other end. In such a construction, it isnecessary only to disen age one of the connecting members 17 an tounfa'sten the link 12 in order to disengage the insulating mehr bers. Ofcourse in practice, the number and size of insulators betw'een twoterminals, as the cables i3, depends upon the applied volta e.

I c aim:

1. In astrain insulator apairof perforated insulating members, an aconnector therefor comprising a metal link having bent portions insertedthrough the perforations, and

ilo

with e pair of insulating members, and a, connecting link thereforcomprising a metal strap formed with headed ends and fa bend between thecenter thereof and each end 5 `adapting the length to be insertedthrough 10 gege both of the headed extremities; e latch extending fromthe member adapted to be sprung over the end center of the lengthbetween the two insulating members, and a lateral projection from thelatch for mov- 15 ing it into and out of engagement with the Venter ofthe link.

Mesem@ 13. in :i Strain iiieuiziter, :1 peil" if lining member@ end :Lmeta! wenn Inel'nbei lnrvi'mf having ende lient ediz ent each other toform e leop, and :L ffieviee which eminente the finale and hee :inexi-enti ing lioitioli which is :'gnnng miei? in in mediziie portion #ifthe member te ifi f yivhiingly in plm-e.

ln testiinonji' ii'iiel'iof l ii-,fve Signed my nume to thtspuviiczitiom in the prei effe o two, subscribing witnesisei-z, en thisiii dey o1 Mey, A, D. Sli? VVitnessec;

A, PL Kim-Hierin, Bess him-TON.

